The present invention relates to a feeder, for separating piled objects to be conveyed one by one and feeding them one by one to a predetermined position, and an image recording device having same.
Conventional image recording devices such as printers and facsimiles have a feeder that feeds a plurality of recording sheets (cut sheets, objects to be conveyed) piled on a hopper or a paper tray by the rotation of paper feed rollers (rotary feeding members). For this feeder, the following methods are in actual use: a horizontal method to pile a plurality of sheets substantially horizontally; and an inclined method to pile a plurality of sheets in a condition of being inclined vertically at an angle.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-208905(1999) discloses a feeder in which a pair of right and left paper feed rollers are disposed with an appropriate interval in between in a direction orthogonal to the sheet feeding direction on the top surface side of a paper feed cassette where a plurality of sheets are piled horizontally. The sheets fed by the pair of paper feed rollers are conveyed to the lower surface of a recording section through a conveyance path of an upward U-turn form having reversing rollers, undergo recording, and are then ejected to the front surface side of the housing of the image recording device.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H07-228367(1995) discloses that a knurled friction producing portion is formed on the outer surface of a paper feed roller parallel to the axis of the paper feed roller made of an elastic material, and the paper feed roller is irrotationally engaged with the support shaft which is provided with a groove, convex portion, or a positioning pin.